Experiencing a significant loss or trauma often leads to an identity crisis, a sensation comparable to losing footing on solid ground. You may suddenly feel untethered, as if the person you once knew as "you" has evaporated, replaced by an unfamiliar stranger. Your faith may seem hollow, your relationships distant. It’s like you’re lost in your own life, and you don’t know how to get back. 

Our guests this week share how they coped with grief and hardship, and how they found their way back from feeling disoriented and disconnected from themselves. Senior pastor of Fellowship Church Ed Young and his wife Lisa share the heart wrenching story of their daughter, LeeBeth, and her struggle with addiction, and how it forever altered the course of their lives. Dr. Morgan Cutlip looked forward to motherhood, but was quickly faced with the real struggles that come alongside it, and made it her life’s work to help mothers cope with that loss of self, and show them how to remember who they are again. 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Dr. Lee Warren

Upcoming interview: Herman Mendoza

Operation Christmas Child

Jesus Listens for Advent & Christmas

Reba McEntire

Not That Fancy

Ed Young

Lisa Young

Fellowship Church

AA [Alcoholics Anonymous]

COVID

A Path Through Pain

Dr. Morgan Cutlip

Philippians 4:8 NIV

Love Your Kids Without Losing Yourself

Interview Quotes

“Through that pain [of losing our daughter], God just surrounded us with His indescribable love. I still can't believe it to this day, but He did, and He has, and I know He will. We had just experienced something together that nobody wants to experience, but it was something that God was walking with us together.” - Lisa Young

“Ed said right after LeeBeth passed away, ‘We will never, ever, ever be the same. We won't do church the same, I won't minister the same, I won't pastor the same.’ And that's in a good way, and so it's continually God showing us new ways to live past this point of grief.” - Lisa Young 

“Pour your heart out to God, your anger out to God, your questions out to God, but also realize, Man, God’s got this, He's got me.” - Ed Young 

“When things started happening, things that were painful, I was able to draw upon what God had given me, what God had instilled in me, and that's how joy and pain can coincide.” - Lisa Young 

“Whatever we face, joy can be ever-present. It seems distant at times, but it's ever-present because of His Presence in my life.” - Lisa Young 

“I think that we're in a society right now that is like, ‘Feelings are facts,’ and they’re just not. We put a lot of emphasis on feelings, but feelings are signals. Feelings are a warning